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WILMINGTON, Del. - Defendants' postponement of a deposition did not waive their right to cross-examine the witness, who died two weeks after he gave truncated testimony, a Delaware judge held Feb. 7 in finding the testimony inadmissible (William Derek Sykes, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. N14C-03-028 ASB, Del. Super., New Castle Co.).

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on Feb. 8 reversed an appeals court finding that a district attorney's claims for violation of California's unfair competition law (UCL) and false advertising law asserted against a plastics maker in relation to an explosion that killed two employees were not preempted by federal occupational safety and health law, finding that those claims remain within a state's responsibility under federal law to regulate worker safety (Solus Industrial Innovations LLC, et al. v. The Superior Court of Orange County, et al., No. S222314, Calif. Sup., 2018 Cal. LEXIS 934).

NEW YORK - The purchaser of Russian chick peas that were never delivered pursuant to three contracts sued the seller of the product in a New York federal court on Feb. 9, seeking to confirm an English arbitral award issued in its favor (PKT Associates Inc. v. Granum Group LLC, No. 1:18-cv-01169, S.D. N.Y.).

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A Connecticut federal judge on Feb. 8 granted an insurer's motion to dismiss its insureds' amended complaint seeking damages as a result of defective concrete used in their home's foundation after determining that the insureds failed to carry their burden of proving that coverage is afforded under the policy and that the insurer acted in bad faith when it denied their claim (Joseph Mazzarella, et al. v. Amica Mutual Insurance Co., No. 17-598, D. Conn., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20737).

TRENTON, N.J. - A federal judge in New Jersey on Feb. 9 granted a motion by three doctors to dismiss a medical malpractice suit against them after finding that the court does not have jurisdiction over the case, in which a woman claimed that she contracted an infection after a surgery (Francie Meth v. Thomas Jefferson Hospitals Inc., et al., No. 3:17-CV-13323, D. N.J., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21312).

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - An insurer's suit seeking a declaration that no coverage is owed for underlying claims arising out of exposure to lime quarry dust must be dismissed in deference to the additional insured's suit filed in Alabama state court against the insurer and others because Alabama has a substantial interest in litigating claims in state court, an Alabama federal judge said Feb. 9 (The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Co. v. G&R Mineral Services Inc., et al., No. 17-752, N.D. Ala., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21533).

NEW YORK - Harvey Weinstein (HW), The Weinstein Co. LLC (TWC), The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC and Robert Weinstein (RW) were named as respondents in a Feb. 11 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman alleging that Harvey Weinstein "repeatedly and persistently sexually harassed female employees at TWC" and "repeatedly and persistently used his position at TWC, female employees at TWC, and the resources at his disposal as the co-CEO of TWC, to serve his interests in sexual contact" (New York v. The Weinstein Company LLC, et al., No. N/A, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).

WILMINGTON, Del. - Defendants' postponement of a deposition did not waive their right to cross-examine the witness, who died two weeks after he gave truncated testimony, a Delaware judge held Feb. 7 in finding the testimony inadmissible (William Derek Sykes, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. N14C-03-028 ASB, Del. Super., New Castle Co.).

PORTLAND, Maine - A Maine dairy company and a class of workers entangled in a wage-and-hour lawsuit stemming from the lack of a serial comma in a list of activities exempted from Maine's overtime law filed a motion on Jan. 8 for preliminary review of a proposed $5 million settlement (Christopher O'Connor, et al. v. Oakhurst Dairy, et al., No. 14-192, D. Maine).

ASHLAND, Ky. - A Kentucky federal judge on Feb. 7 sustained a nursing home's motion to compel arbitration and enjoin a daughter from pursuing claims that poor care ultimately cost her father his life in state court or any manner other than arbitration, finding that the arbitration agreement signed by her father was binding (Diversicare Leasing Corp., et al. v. Rose Hutchinson, et al., No. 17-42, E.D. Ky., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19752).

NEW YORK - Noting that the parties involved in a suit alleging that New York University (NYU) breached its duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in its administration and management of its retirement plan may benefit from an early indication of class certification, a New York federal judge on Feb. 7 entered an order stating that the court intended to grant the plaintiffs' order for class certification (Dr. Alan Sacerdote, et al. v. New York University, et al., No. 1:16-cv-6284, S.D. N.Y.).

MIAMI - An insurance company has no duty to defend a general contractor accused in an underlying suit of construction defects, a federal judge in Florida ruled Feb. 7, holding that the "your work" exclusion to the policy warrants a denial of coverage (Mid-Continent Casualty Company v. JWN Construction Inc., et al., No. 17-CV-80286, S.D. Fla., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20529).

ST. LOUIS - A Missouri federal judge on Feb. 7 denied a motion by a candy company to dismiss a class complaint accusing it of deceiving customers by slack-filling its boxes of chocolate-covered raisins, finding that the named plaintiff has made sufficient claims to proceed at this stage (Lahonee Hawkins, et al. v. Nestle U.S.A. Inc., No. 17-205, E.D. Mo., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19933).

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A cardiologist's lack of experience working in a prison setting does not preclude him from offering expert opinions on the standard of care provided to a man who died while incarcerated, a Georgia federal judge held Feb. 8 (Belinda Lee Maley, et al. v. Corizon Health, Inc., et al., No. 4:16-cv-060, S.D. Ga., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21344).

HAMMOND, Ind. - A federal judge in Indiana on Feb. 9 upheld a magistrate judge's ruling denying a motion to intervene filed by nearby residents of a Superfund site, holding that the request, which came two years after a settlement was reached between companies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was untimely (United States of America v. Atlantic Richfield Co., et al., No. 14-cv-312, N.D. Ind., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21524).

CINCINNATI - In a dispute between an insolvent insurer's liquidator and an administrative services provider over whether work for the insurer should be arbitrated, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 9 that the McCarran-Ferguson Act does not reverse-preempt the enforcement of a contractual arbitration clause under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) (Nancy G. Atkins, liquidator of Kentucky Health Cooperative Inc. v. CGI Technologies and Solutions Inc., No. 17-5506, 6th Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 3130).

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on Feb. 8 reversed an appeals court finding that a district attorney's claims for violation of California's unfair competition law (UCL) and false advertising law asserted against a plastics maker in relation to an explosion that killed two employees were not preempted by federal occupational safety and health law, finding that those claims remain within a state's responsibility under federal law to regulate worker safety (Solus Industrial Innovations LLC, et al. v. The Superior Court of Orange County, et al., No. S222314, Calif. Sup., 2018 Cal. LEXIS 934).

NEW YORK - A federal judge in Connecticut did not err when finding that investors in three stranger obtained life insurance (STOLI) policies were victims under the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (MVRA) and ordering a man who pleaded guilty to insurance fraud to pay $1.9 million in restitution, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 9, explaining that investors would not have given the defendant their money if they were aware of the scheme (United States of America v. David Quatrella, No. 17-1786-cr, 2nd Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 3189).